Saturday, May 29, 2010

It All Started With a Lie

It All Began With A Lie

It was paradise in the garden God had made. There is nothing on earth to compare it to. Not only did Adam and Eve live in paradise but paradise lived in their hearts. Their walk with God was perfect, unaffected by sin because their hearts were perfect. But then there appeared one in the garden who hated God. And he whispered lies in the ear of Eve. “Did God really say you couldn’t eat from that tree? Surely, you will not die, he doesn’t want you to eat from that tree because he doesn’t want you to be like him! You will have power and pleasure you’ve never dreamed of, go ahead and eat.”

So, Eve ate. She gave to Adam and he ate and their act of blatant, selfish disobedience was completed. Thus, we learned to lie from the Father of Lies. We lie to God, we lie to others but the greatest lies we’ve learned to tell are the lies we tell ourselves. Why write an article about telling lies? Aren’t there more important or more interesting things to write about?

I write these words because my hope is that others might escape the pain that comes from telling and living lies. I wasted nearly two decades of my life pursuing my own self-interests. I rationalized by behavior. I ran away from God’s call to preach. I believed the lie that I was happy and that I was fulfilling my obligations as a husband and father. I believed I was a good husband, a good father and a good teacher but there was no goodness in me.

During those years God followed after me like a bloodhound. He would not let me go. Crisis after crisis began to thunder in my soul like waves crashing on the seashore. I finally threw in the towel of my resistance and gave my heart to Christ. I then felt the freedom of his forgiveness but I also felt like the world’s greatest, happiest failure because of the years wasted.

Now I’m trying to make up for lost time. I often reach for the verse God gave me when I reconciled with him, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” – (Joel 2:25) When I was backslidden and in pursuit of worldly pleasure I thought I was happy. I thought I was fooling God and fooling everyone else but I was only fooling myself. Satan lied to me!! He is cruel and horrible in his hatred for us. When we resist the will of God it is inevitably going to lead to indescribable misery and unbelievable sorrow.

A month ago a blown out oil well forty miles off the shore in the Gulf of Mexico began an uncontrollable spew of oil into the ocean waters. They tried to cover it up but it could not be hidden. They’ve tried to stop the flow of oil but the dark, black liquid continues to pollute the waters. Now, the oil has reached the shores of our southern states and they are beginning to smell the stench of death as thousands of fish and birds perish in the crud.

There lies a deep, black corruption in every soul. This blackness seeps out of the soul continuously and no man can stop its eruption. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Many try to hide it but it cannot be hidden. “None of these things are hidden from him.” (Acts 26:26) Finally others began to cringe as they smell the stench of our attitudes, the stench of our behavior, the stench of our deception. There is only One who can stop the horrible eruption in the deep recesses of our blackened souls.

Don’t believe the lie. Don’t waste the years. Don’t live the short life you’ve been given in indescribable misery and unbelievable sorrow. Reject the lies and embrace the truth because Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” (Jn. 8:12)